A review of recent grant announcements from across the country reveals the growing importance the Economic Development Administration (EDA) places on supporting technology-based economic development projects. EDA's emphasis on technology-led economic development is expected to be the focus of  a keynote address delivered by Dr. David Sampson, Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Economic Development and EDA head, at SSTI's Sixth Annual Conference this October 2-3.

The Maryland Technology Development Corp. (TEDCO) has hired Lara Vande Walle to serve as director of membership and business development.

With more than 30 sessions and keynote addresses by Michigan Governor John Engler and U.S. Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Economic Development David Sampson, SSTI's Sixth Annual Conference promises to be the year's best and most comprehensive conference on tech-based economic development. Building Tech-Based Economies: From Policy to Practice will be held October 2-3, 2002 in Dearborn, Michigan, with pre-conference activities on October 1.

Forty-four research universities in 28 states and the District of Columbia will receive $80 million from Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) to help address the challenges of the rapidly changing and increasingly interdisciplinary nature of undergraduate biology education. The grants will support programs that encourage graduate students and postdoctoral fellows to hone their teaching skills in undergraduate courses.

A study released by the Beacon Hill Institute at Suffolk University in Boston is one of the more recent efforts to examine all aspects of U.S. states and their economies. Entitled State Competitiveness Report 2001, the study defines competitiveness as the ability to ensure and sustain a high level of per capita income and its continued growth.

To spur technology development in the state, the Maryland Technology Development Corporation (TEDCO) has entered a collaborative agreement with the nation's cryptologic organization, the National Security Agency (NSA). TEDCO’s mission is to help foster a technology economy that will create and sustain businesses throughout Maryland. NSA coordinates, directs and performs highly specialized activities to protect U.S.

Christopher Foster has been named technology coordinator for the Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development.

John Murray has been named executive director of the Maryland Economic Development Commission.

William Rosenberg has resigned from his position as CEO of the Michigan Broadband Authority. which approved its first loan at the end of March for wireless broadband service in several small towns.

Michael Witt has been appointed Executive Director of MichBio, the state's bioscience industry association.

The Maryland Technology Development Corp. (TEDCO) and the Department of Business and Economic Development (DBED) recently presented the first part of a two-phase study by the Johns Hopkins Institute for Policy Studies entitled The Genealogy of Maryland Entrepreneurs.

Lincoln, Nebraska

The Maryland Technology Development Corporation (TEDCO) kicked off the new year with a new $330,000 program to support Maryland companies wishing to develop technology-based products and/or services in collaboration with Johns Hopkins University (JHU), Morgan State University (MSU) or federal laboratories in Maryland. The Maryland Technology Transfer Fund (MTTF) will award non-equity investments of up to $50,000 per project.

A new report showing that Michigan is performing at the level of the national average in tech transfer recently was released by the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC) and the Presidents Council, State Universities of Michigan.

The Maryland Technology Development Corp. (TEDCO), RESI (a regional economic studies institute at Towson University), and the Maryland Business Incubation Association (MBIA) presented on Thursday the results of the Maryland Incubator Impact Study — a first-of-its-kind study for the state by measuring the economic impact of Maryland's six public- and university-related high-tech business incubators on the state's economy. 

Christopher C. Foster is the new state technology coordinator at the Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development.

Dyan Brasington, former president of the Technology Council of Maryland, is the new director of economic and workforce development at Towson University.

Greater Baltimore Technology Council executive director Penny Lewandowski is leaving at the end of May to join the Edward Lowe Foundation in Detroit. Assistant director Steve Kovak has been named her successor.

The latest in SSTI's annual "Tech Talkin' Govs" series. Five earlier installments of this 2005 review of governors' legislative priorities concerning tech-based economic development are available through the Digest online: http://www.ssti.org/Digest/digest.htm

Michigan

As the only state to have a net job loss in 2004, Michigan's political leadership recognizes something must change. The state's shifting economy, from one defined principally by its manufacturing sector to one that derives growth equally from knowledge-based industries, is at the center of the matter. Michigan policymakers are challenged to create innovative proposals that preserve one facet of the economy while broadening the other.

Johns Hopkins University has named Jill Tarzian Sorenson to serve as associate provost and director of the Office of Licensing and Technology Development.

The nation's most significant source of funding for life science research, the National Institutes of Health, announced two sweeping changes last week that could dramatically alter biotechnology commercialization. The first policy change addresses known and potential conflicts of interest by NIH employees, while the second encourages all NIH-funded research to be released publicly within 12 months of final publication.

The University of Michigan announced last month that it will spend $30 million in the next five years to hire an additional 100 junior tenure-track faculty members to build multidisciplinary research and degree programs.

SSTI is pleased to announce that Mr. Kevin Plank, chairman and chief executive officer of Under Armour Inc., will be a keynote speaker at SSTI's 11th Annual Conference on Oct. 18-19 in Baltimore.

From federal, state and local governments to nonprofit organizations and private industry, nearly every sector has a stake in recruiting youth to the high-tech manufacturing jobs of the future in order to maintain a competitive advantage.